The Sound of Munich: Autonomy, Anxiety, and the Twilight of Transatlantic Order

AI Summary

The article provides a firsthand account of the Munich Security Conference, capturing the anxious atmosphere surrounding transatlantic relations, particularly from European delegates concerned about the future of the Western alliance. Discussions centered on European strategic autonomy and the shifting dynamics between the U.S. and its NATO partners. The piece reflects on the broader twilight of the post-Cold War transatlantic order.

Munich was warmer than Washington this weekend, both in weather and in sentiment. Neither development was widely forecast. The sense of crisis in transatlantic relations was plain, especially on the European side, and the world descended on the Bayerischer Hof hotel to sort it all out. At the Munich Security Conference there was beer to drink, brats to eat, statements to make, and bilateral meetings to hold. February’s foreign policy freneticism kicked off in earnest.And frenetic it was. Bilateral meetings were set at 25 minutes apiece and the most hyperactive delegates kept them shorter than that. Heads of state and The post The Sound of Munich: Autonomy, Anxiety, and the Twilight of Transatlantic Order appeared first on War on the Rocks.